I have been simplifying things in my life – and in my home – for a long time. When I first started out, I had this idea that I would progress from being a hoarder who was too busy to achieve anything, to someone in minimalist nirvana. I would own only what I needed or loved, I would spend barely any time looking after the house or doing life admin, and I would have the time and focus to pursue the things I really loved (like writing).

I don’t want this to be a clichéd account of positive thinking, but it’s kind of hard to explain it in any other way. I’ll give it a go, and if you can reserve judgement until I’ve at least got part of the way through, I’d appreciate it 😉

Life is always changing, and most of us will go through periods of highs and lows, over and over again. This cycle is the same for everyone and we all have a past. We’re all imperfect humans who are trying to do the best we can. Sometimes, if a person tries to hide that imperfection, or if they can’t let go of the past, or if they try to cover up the past, clutter can be the result.

In today’s world, we are bombarded with things from the minute we wake up until the minute we fall asleep. Our lives are far from simple. Notifications beeping the second we turn on our phones, news on the radio and tv, advertisements everywhere imaginable, from the petrol/gas pump at the service station to the packaging on our food.

Decluttering is one of those things that most of us know we should do, but many of us never get around to. Aside from a brief two-day purge when it really gets too much, we live our lives surrounded by piles of things we don’t need and don’t use. Finding the motivation to declutter is the key to making sustainable changes. There are two parts to acquiring this motivation and maintaining it, so let’s look at each of them in turn.